In the days following his special election victory, D.C. Councilmember-elect Trayon White made appearances throughout Ward 8, attending events and engaging his soon-to-be-again constituents, regardless of whether they voted for him— or voted at all.
As Advisory Neighborhood Commission 8E Chair Kelly Mikel Williams recounted, White felt the love on Saturday afternoon at Ferebee-Hope Recreation Center, where Advisory Neighborhood Commission 8E held its third annual Community Connection Day Block Party.
“Folks seem to be embracing and supportive and complimentary,” said Williams, who’s in his second term as commissioner of Single-Member District 8E03, which includes portions of Mississippi Avenue and Alabama Avenue in Southeast. “That was the visual vibe I got. I know when he was coming, people were surrounding him engaging in conversation.”
Williams said that since the July 15 special election, he’s heard various viewpoints on the outcome, with a contingent of residents disappointed in, as he described it, the lack of concern for the collective wellbeing of the ward from those caught up in White’s expulsion from the council.
Another area of concern, Williams said, was the low voter turnout in Ward 8.
As reported by D.C. Board of Elections, 7,806 registered Ward 8—less than 14% of the electorate— participated in the election. White, the beleaguered incumbent, clinched victory with 2,187 votes— less than 30% of the electorate. The other candidates— attorney Mike Austin, Advisory Neighborhood Commission Chair Salim Adofo, and former D.C. Council chief of staff Sheila Bunn— split the other votes, with Bunn securing second place as a result.
For Williams, who didn’t disclose his candidate of choice, such a scenario, in which tens of thousands of people sat home, speaks to a greater problem affecting Ward 8.
“Ward 8 has a lot of power that we’re not using,” Williams told The Informer. “That’s why we’re stuck with one grocery store, and afraid that it’s going to run away. If we used our collective power in Ward 8, like Ward 3 does, or Ward 2, or Ward 1, we would not be having this conversation right now.”
Days after the special election, conversation continued as supporters of Initiative 83 described the outcome of the race as even more reason to implement ranked-choice voting, as outlined in the ballot measure that more than 70% of District voters approved last fall.
Since the approval of Initiative 83, proponents and opponents have been in a tug-of-war about the ballot measure’s future.
Earlier in the budget season, D.C. Councilmember Anita Bonds (D-At large), chair of the committee that conducted oversight of DCBOE, placed Initiative 83 low among her budget priorities due to questions about its impact and the use of white out on the petitions submitted for ballot approval.
Earlier this month, the Fiscal Year 2026 budget that D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson circulated didn’t include funding for Initiative 83. However, on July 14, the day before the special election, the D.C. Council approved a budget amendment by D.C. Councilmembers Christina Henderson (I-At large) and Brianne Nadeau (D-Ward 1) that funds the ranked-choice voting portion of the law, in part, with funds originally allocated for a newly council-approved farmer’s market grant program.
WIlliams, a Democrat who’s challenged D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton for her seat during previous election cycles, questioned an assertion among supporters that Initiative 83 spur civic engagement among who he described as disillusioned voters.
“At the point where you only have 7,500 people voting anyway, I don’t think ranked-choice would have done the job,” Williams told The Informer. “What you’re looking at is…the interest, and if 80,000 voters felt that none of the [candidates] were good enough to qualify, then those 80,000 could have collectively and independently either got up and ran themselves, collectively got around behind someone, brought their demands to that individual, and…helped them get in office.”
Post-Special Election Victory, Councilmember-Elect White Talks Initiative 83 and Other Pressing Issues
Last weekend, during his virtual appearance before the Ward 8 Democrats, Councilmember-elect White criticized the manner in which Henderson and Nadeau secured funding for ranked-choice voting.
“You have some of the highest health disparities per capita in the country, and I didn’t like that,” White told Ward 8 Democrats Chair Troy Donte Prestwood in his reflection about food insecurity. “And I’m not a supporter of Ranked Choice Voting. So that’s a double whammy.”
During what was one of his first major appearances after the special election, White revealed plans for a yet-to-be-scheduled strategic planning meeting and unity breakfast. He also encouraged residents to attend a unity kickball game at Lockridge Field (Oxon Run Park) scheduled to take place on the afternoon of August 2.
All events, White said, count as part of an effort to foster comradery and ensure Ward 8 is on one accord upon his full return to the council.
“I may be the one who won this election, but if I don’t win, we don’t win,” White said on Saturday. “We have to put our differences aside and not just talk about what we disagree on.. But what we can figure out, what we can agree upon. That’s going to take community effort, and I look forward to working with the community.”
For the rest of the program, White weighed in on matters of public safety, Medicaid funding, housing and RFK campus development.
As Medicaid recipients in D.C. and across the U.S. await the effects of budget cuts, White suggested increasing tax revenue as a means of preserving those healthcare benefits. The RENTAL Act also came up in the discussion, with White pointing out to audience members that he would be council member again in time to adjust the law.
“I did not agree with the RENTAL Act, but I want to offer some amendments to create more affordable housing,” White said. “I talked about senior housing, but it’s housing across the board as well in D.C and I think that we need to beef up our ability to put money in the budget like I did with the community and trust to ensure that people can not just rent, but own.”
White later touted out-of-school time funding, early childhood literacy programs, and scholarships for young people like former D.C. State Board of Education student representative Calique Barnes— who launched a crowdfunding campaign earlier this year to cover his Morehouse College tuition— as valuable violence prevention tools.
“It’s not just him,” White said. “There are other Caliques in this community that’s looking for an outlet, looking for something to do, and we’re not providing that. So I’m going to be laser-focused on that like never before. You’re…going to hear it, and you’re going to see the impact.”
After DCBOE certifies the special election results on Aug. 8, White faces what detractors and political opponents predicted would be the uphill battle of representing Ward 8 without the power and influence that comes with a committee chairmanship.
White addressed those concerns during his one-hour session with the Ward 8 Democrats, noting that, since July 15, he’s met with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) and at least two council members, with plans to meet with Mendelson.
“I haven’t had this conversation with the chairman, but even without chairing a committee, I will be on committees,” White said. “That’s the goal in which I have a vote. I have leverage. I have amendments I can make. I have legislation I can write. That’s why I said I want to [make] coalitions and relationships to ensure that we are also holding the other members accountable for what they’re doing that affect Ward 8.”
As White embarks on that coalition-building journey, there also lies the question of how he will fulfill his council responsibilities while preparing for his January 2026 trial. If found guilty, he faces 15 years in federal prison. Per the D.C. Home Rule Charter, an elected official can no longer hold office once convicted of a crime.
As Prestwood mentioned, there’s also the issue of how the councilmember-elect, who an informant recorded on camera accepting bribes last summer, can regain his council colleagues’ trust and that of his constituents. In response, White alluded to what he called a mostly blemish-free tenure before pledging to cooperate with his council colleagues and constituents.
“I plan on doing any and everything I can to make sure that people see the transparency with me and I plan on doing a lot of community business, being in the community, answering questions, talking to people,” White said. “That’s what true leadership is all about, not hiding or ducking, but also just standing firm and standing in front of the people explaining and talking through what I can.”
That transparency, White said, comes with conditions.
“Of course, it is a federal investigation going on, an open case,” he said. “But what I can talk about, I will and give people the assurance that we are in good hands.”
With the Dust Settled, A Couple Voters Reflect on the Current State of Affairs
Longtime Ward 8 resident Brenda Jones said that White’s special election victory didn’t surprise her.
“It’s not much to say,” Jones told The Informer. “Gotta hopefully get some more people out that want to run and serve.”
As the D.C. Council grapples with a housing ecosystem on the brink of collapse, Jones said that Ward 8 political leaders must deal with issues much deeper than housing affordability.
“If we don’t help the parents, support the families, we have these issues with children running wild,” Jones told The Informer. “It’s not their fault. They’re not really being parented the way they should be parented. Not given the kind of love and attention they think they should be given.”
On Monday evening, Jones looked back on moments spent at candidate forums that Councilmember-elect White didn’t attend. She recounted listening to Adofo, Austin, and Bunn, saying that each candidate struggled, in some respect, to establish rapport with less engaged voters.
“People have to show up before elections,” Jones told The Informer. “doing things in the community so people will say, ‘Oh, I know him or I know her, I see them around and I’m impressed with what they’re doing in the community.’”
Earlier this year, just weeks after his council expulsion, White entered the special election that had a candidate field of nearly two dozen. The majority of those candidates— including Khadijah Clark— didn’t make it past the nominating petition process.
Clark, a therapist, homeless advocate and lifelong Ward 8 resident hailing from White’s stomping grounds of Washington Highlands, said, despite the council member-elect’s federal bribery charge, she trusts him more than the other candidates.
“I wasn’t even shocked, I knew he was gonna win,” Clark told The Informer.
She emphasized the notion of redemption despite public scrutiny.
“Everyone deserves a second chance. What’s the difference between White and [Advisory Neighborhood Chair] Adofo,” Clark questioned in reference to the Office of the D.C. Auditor’s ongoing examination of ANC 8C’s finances.
Clark said, despite the D.C. Council’s recent rules change that allows for a second expulsion, she’s not worried about White’s political future.
“They’re making up all this policy,” Clark told The Informer. “Always changing something. D.C.’s so trifling when it comes to politics, but you win by Allah’s order.”
